Wallabies in France

So the Wallabies have arrived in Montpellier, after a day-trip to Villers Bretonneux and the WWI cemetery containing the graves of several hundred young Australian soldiers.

The Wallabies play their first match against the Japanese in Lyon on the 8th. It should be a nice warm-up match for them; however, the Japanese are a spirited team and will give the men in green and gold an entertaining, if not overtaxing, game.

Eddie Jones - the former Wallabies' coach - has criticised the Australian forward pack, just in time for the first match. We remember what his coaching record was like with the Wallabies. Let's hope he takes the same approach in his job with the South Africans.

Gosh he annoys me.

The All Blacks are firming as favourites to win the Cup. It's usual for the All Blacks to head into the RWC as favourites - they've done so every Cup - but history has shown that the New Zealanders reach a peak, and then crash just when it matters most. They lost to the Wallabies in the 1991 semi-final, choked in the 1995 final against South Africa, went out to France in '99 semi-final and to Australia in the 2003 semi-final. To win the All Blacks will need to keep their form until late in the competition if they're to stand on the winners' podium (rugby trivia: the All Blacks have won the World Cup once - the first one in 1987 - whilst we've won it twice and been in the finals three times).

I'd like to think the Wallabies could rise above recent poor form and slog it out to win for a third time. With inspiration from those young men buried in the fields of France, they can take it to their opposition and get the job done.

Time, and the sometimes unpredictable game of rugby, will tell. Roll on the Rugby World Cup!